Words for geographical features

The place names of Britain give a glimpse of our distant past. Many words are common in place names within a distinct area of the country, and are the last remaining fragments of former dialects.

The word Avon is an Anglicised version of a Celtic word meaning river. It gives its name to a defunct county, but also the River Avon (which runs through Bristol and Bath). So this river is called River River!

The names of the rivers Tamar and Thames both come from the Celtic for dark and Derwent means oak.

Aber and Inver are common elements in place-names of Celtic origin - such as Aberdeen, Inverness, Lochaber, Abertawe (Swansea), Aberfan and Aberystwyth. Both mean confluence of waters or river mouth. It is the Celtic version of the suffix mouth, which is very common in English seaside town names such as Bournemouth, Exmouth, Yarmouth, Teignmouth, Dartmouth, etc.

The suffix ton to place names means farm or hamlet, ham means village or estate, ly or ley means wood or a clearing, stow means place or meeting place and bury means fort.

Burn and bourne in modern place names are of Old English origin and mean brook. Examples include Blackburn, Glyndebourne and Burnley. The suffix ey indicates an island of dry or raised land in a marsh or wetlands, as in Putney, Oaksey and North Hinksey.

Combe is an Old English word for dry valley. Most combes are in the West Country - such as Winchcombe, Combe Martin, Babbacombe, Ilfracombe, etc. though there are combes elsewhere such as Balcombe in West Sussex and Addiscombe in South London.

Gill or ghyll means narrow ravine or gully. The word is usually associated with the North of England, but is also used in the landscape of the Weald in the South East. In both cases, there is usually a stream running through the ravine.

Hythe or hithe means place for landing boats. Wych means trading place or settlement. Strand means shore and wick means bay.

*The photo shows Babbacombe, named after a dry valley.